clicking and popping... a very common problem...

[drummersteve]

argh! okay

its been a long time since ive posted on here, since ive been on a long vacation...

the problem has been with me for a while... in fact a long time! and ive tried so many things to fix it (the clicking and popping) but to no avail as of yet.

ive looked at IRQ settings, set the soundcard (delta 101lt) to the highest position, bought more ram, a new seperate audio SATA hard drive, a new graphics card, an endless list, fiddled round with settings on the soundcard, within cubase sx (my multitrack software) but nothing! i still get it! sometimes the clicks are recorded, sometimes there just on playback, and im getting to the end of my teather now and have lost all remaining patience i had!

does anybody else share this problem with me? how have other people solved this problem? does anybody even have any ideas as to what might be causing the problem? this is a very common problem i know but ive tried all common fixes of the problem and none of them have cured it! so im lost now.

thanks for any response, all is welcome and greatly appreciated!!

Steve

[grn]

does it happen with other software as well? try audacity and kristal and see if it happens (they are free)... I also recommend going to tweakxp.com and optimizing your computer for sound...

[DonF]

You may have a motherboard that doesn't work well with the Delta. I can't name specific MOBO's that do or don't work, but I've heard that some are better than others, and some are much worse. It's also possible that the driver for another PCI device is hogging the bus. Video drivers are notorious for this. Have you tried turning down the graphics hardware acceleration setting?

[amra]

Be sure you are using the ASIO drivers for your delta. I was having all kinds of popping and clicking problems until I switched.

[drummersteve]

hey guys, thanks for the responses - all much appreciated.
just had a guitarist round now and its still there...

asio drivers are being used, i frequently update them from the m-audio website, but this has never solved the problem.

it does happen with other software, acid pro for example. the funny thing is, today it was hellish, but the other day i had a rapper come round and we were recoridng for 4hours...ish. the number of tracks involved in that project is much larger than the one with the guitar, and there is muhc more graphics having to be processed also. im also using vst instruments which adds to it. so even though there is more load on the processor for graphics and processing sound, all his recordings in that four hours were completley clean.

it is a frequent problem with distorted (and clean) guitars, and more high-pitched singing. perhaps its something to do with frequency? say there is a threshold frequency, above this the clicking kicks in? even so, why would this happen?! and ive never heard this sort of theory before...

its not to do with the level being too hot either, turning the preamp down and up whilst recording made no difference, the clicking was still there!

i did nothing different when i recorded the rapper. all the theories i had for the problem would have made you think it would be even wors with the rapper (more audio to be processed and more graphics being processed) but it was completley clean all the time.

ive heard the whole motherboard issue being mentioned before.i have an ASUS XSeries mobo, which i think fell under one of the mobos which didnt comply too well with the m-audio. even still, why did i get the completley clean recording with the rapper?

nothing seems to make sense, does anyone else have any ideas?! sorry to go on.

thanks for any help, greatly appreciated!!

Steve

p.s. il check that website out for optimising my pc settings - thank you for that =).

[Carter]

Also make sure the DMA is checked for your hard drive....

[Garry Sharp]

Just out of interest drummersteve - is that ASUS an AMD mobo?

[Bob's Mods]

Drummersteve,

I assume your using a 24 bit conversion, try recording your tracks at a red line of -18 dB...then normalize. There is no need at all to push your levels to the limit in a 24 bit world. Recording at -18 dB then normalizing will not make any difference in the sound. 24 Bit is very forgiving. There is a possibility you are overloading your input. I know that I can easily overload my input and it causes crackle noises on the tracks, recording at a reduced level fixes it.

You should also check out your "Recording Timing Master" in your Audio Options menu or where this is in your app. Be sure you have selected the proper timing source for your recording. If its digital in, select digital in.

These two areas can cause noise artifacts on your tracks. At lease they do on my system if I don't compensate.

Bob the Mod Guy

[Blade_Jones]

What kind of popping? Digital pops?
What program are you using? ProTools? Nuendo? Can you monitor CPU performance while this is happening? Keep in mind that with programs like Nuendo you have to DISABLE tracks - NOT MUTE tracks in order to lessen the CPU load, otheriwse it's as if the tracks are playing. Upgrade to Windows XP and get the latest software update if you haven't already.
If it's not a CPU usage problem, then make sure your bit rate settings are all equal - for the project and for the sound card settings.
I used to have huge problems with the Delta 1010 and Nuendo. I switched to a Midiman 4 X 4 and everything improved.

[essclock]

Hey steve ,

I seem to have a similar problem to you and I am also going pretty insane .

I get popping and clicking in cubase sx3 when I record direct into Cubase . I also get the same popping and clicking when I load a sample into the track and play it back . Even perfectly clean samples from Reason are playing back badly and I have absolutely no idea how to fix it . The thing is when I record using my crappy Audigy recording software although the quality is lower there is no popping or clicking . In fact Cubase is the only one of several progs that gives me this problem .

I really hope we can work this out .

kevin

[drummersteve]

Hi there guys,

I havnt visited this forum in a few months, so to find my thread is still being viewed is promising

After months of fustration, the problem (unfortunatley) still hasn't gone away. I managed to get my hands on Nuendo 3, hoping that the dodgy Cubase Software might have been the problem, but no it wasn't. I have tried many solutions, as i have said before, and this weekend im going through a number of ways to try and distinguish exactly what the problem. My mind is being led either to the fact I am running two monitors, which is taking too much processing power, and therefore sacrificing my audio quality. But my other thought still lies with the MOBO-Soundcard compatibility issues. I've read somewhere that my model of MOBO is known to have had issues with the 1010LT. I was wondering, if anybody knew where i could get my hands hold of such information. The information telling which MOBOS don't go well with the 1010, and which do. So if it comes down to it, i at least have some sort of idea in which direction to head. Thanks guys,

Steve

PS. I am sure I have seen MOBOs which can house two processors? If i am remembering what I saw, might this be a solution to the dual-monitor issue with the graphics? That or just get a better graphics card? Thanks for all the input.

[xstatic]

Well, are you using legitimate software? Or are you using downloaded software? Are you using a digital mixer?

It seems a little fishy to me that if you are having all of these problems that you would go out and buy an $1800 program.

[Blue Bear Sound]

Originally Posted by drummersteve

I managed to get my hands on Nuendo 3, hoping that the dodgy Cubase Software might have been the problem, but no it wasn't.

Nuendo and Cubase SX are EXACTLY the same engine, the ONLY difference is feature-set..... so if you have a problem with one, then you have a problem with the other too.

The first step is using a legit version -- cracks are often unstable....

[c7sus]

Ditch the 1010.

Buy a Lynx.

[dgatwood]

Originally Posted by c7sus

Ditch the 1010.

Buy a Lynx.

If one PCI sound card doesn't work, it's unlikely that buying another one will make things better. If your motherboard has ACPI, try disabling it and then fixing IRQ settings so that nothing shares an IRQ with the Delta....

Read the bits of this digest that talk about how to do that.
http://www.solorb.com/dat-heads/digests/V6.200/D233

[noisedude]

Dear Drummersteve,

Bless you mate - you have my deepest sympathies. I had this problem - it's called PCI Latency - for more than a year till I bit the bullet and got a new PC. The problem was my mobo/chipset in combination with my graphics card and Delta 44. But mostly the mobo.

There are a couple of websites about it, and the Sound on Sound computers forum is flooded with people like me who are stuck ... but basically it isn't good news and many don't ever quite solve the problem.

I bought my first ever Intel-based PC and haven't had a single problem with it. I'd like to be loyal to AMD but I couldn't trust the chipsets again.

Nik